Chapter 1: A New Black
Not really sure what to say here, but hello! Thanks for giving my story a read! This is an idea that popped into my head during the summer but I finally decided to post it after some encouragement. I like the idea even it is a little silly. For now though, I won't keep you! I give to you, The Snake-Hearted Lion!
Doctors and nurses were buzzing around busily as three figures entered St. Thomas's Hospital in London, England. One of the figures was a tall man with fair hair and a bit of a gut to him, wearing a nicely made suit, his brown eyes flicking over the other two figures with concern. He had his arms around a woman with long slightly curly brown hair that fell down to her shoulder blades and aristocratic features along with a very swollen stomach, which had necessitated this visit in the first place. As medical staff finally noticed the very pregnant woman stepping in she was quickly put on a gurney and wheeled along to the labor room. The final figure, significantly shorter than the both of them, only three and struggling to keep up with her little legs was almost an exact carbon copy of her mother. It would be hard looking between the two to find any differences other than height. Of course if one blinked then they might've been mistaken as she now had several features more relating to the man who lifted her into his arms and slowed his panicked pace as his wife was wheeled to the maternity ward. These were, of course, Edward "Ted", Andromeda, and Nymphadora Tonks. In the many possible timelines that exist in the possible multiverse, this just so happened to be a glance where it appeared that the young metamorphmagus would soon be gaining a younger sibling.
Compared with her first pregnancy, Andromeda had felt that this was a breeze. After all, the developing child inside of her hadn't been constantly changing its form unlike certain others, which also meant that she could deliver in a Muggle hospital rather than risk going to St. Mungo's now at the height of the war. She had sworn that she had occasionally felt something more than just an average kick, but compared to Nymphadora it had been next to nothing. Father and daughter were sitting worriedly among other fathers when a nurse came out smiling at the two of them, leading them through to greet Andromeda and the newest member of their family, born on October 1, 1976 one Leo Alphard Tonks.
During the first few months Ted and Andromeda had watched the infant like hawks, but it appeared that unlike his older sister, Leo would be staying with one form. He had light brown hair similar to his father's but his gray eyes and slightly sharper features, recognizable even under baby fat, showed that this was a child of the Blacks.
Dora was simply taken with the infant and whenever he would start to cry she would make silly faces for him, imitating people they had seen on the telly, looking like Mommy and Daddy, spiralling her hair through rainbows, just to make her little brother happy; Leo never failed to start laughing when Dora would do her routine. Sometimes he would copy her, scrunching his eyes shut and apparently concentrating just like she would when her features changed, much to her and their parents' amusement. If his eyes ever seemed to gain a bit more blue then the normal Black gray, well his eyes were shut so it wasn't like they could see.
Leo's first birthday rolled around and Ted and Andromeda were a bit concerned over just who they would end up inviting to the party. After being removed from the Black family, Andromeda had cut ties from almost all of them but she still decided to send invites to her uncle Alphard who had been the inspiration for Leo's name, Narcissa Black who, despite courting a suspected Death Eater was still her little sister, and a seventeen-year-old Sirius Black who was close to receiving similar treatment that she had gotten with his mother on the warpath. Sirius had also brought along one James Potter whom he had been living with for the past year after fleeing 12 Grimmauld Place to avoid being forced to take the Dark Mark. The two soon-to-be seventh years regaled the now four-year-old Nymphadora with tales of their pranking exploits while Narcissa spent most of her time playing with Leo and Alphard spoke with Ted and Andromeda on how the war effort was going and how the Black family was doing.
However, all the conversation came to a halt when Narcissa let out a shriek of surprise. All eyes turned to the twenty-one-year-old who was staring down at the toddler in her lap. Leo was holding the enchanted snake's head in his hand and let out another hiss which caused the snake to nod its head and hiss out in response. It was Leo's first word being cried out "Snake!" followed quickly by his second "talk!" that had Andromeda rushing over and pulling Leo up and away from the toy.
The bright blue that once again colored his eyes was looked over while the resident Blacks panicked in their own ways. Alphard couldn't stop muttering about both a Metamorph and a Parseltongue being born to a muggleborn and pureblood as he stared at his young nephew. Sirius was nervously running a hand through his hair while James just kept glancing back and forth between the toy and the boy. Ted tried to calm his wife, unsure just what a parseltongue was. Narcissa quickly explained it to him in practically reverent tones. Andromeda though was nearing tears. She had heard all the rumors about the dark lord being a descendant of Slytherin and possessing the same talent. If her baby was also a Parselmouth that would make them a target.
She demanded that none of the small crowd would be allowed to breathe a word of this to anyone. Alphard however had a thought and asked if it would be alright for him to contact Lord Arcturus Black the head of the family. This brought Andromeda to a halt. If Arcturus knew, then surely he would want his great-grandson to be a member of the family again, if not the rest of the Tonkses too.
Andromeda finally took some calming breaths sitting down at the kitchen table, Ted taking the seat beside her, Dora climbing up into her father's lap hugging close to him. The girl might not have known what the big issue was but she knew her parents were hurting.
Andromeda took a few minutes to consider the benefits being a member of the Black family would provide versus the drawbacks. They would still likely be targets of the Death Eater with her being labelled a blood traitor, but it would be easier to set up protections. Still this would see her aunt demanding answers as to why the 'blood traitor filth' would be allowed back in. She finally said that she would allow it but asked Alphard to inform Arcturus to keep it quiet.
It was a few days later that a pop was heard coming from the back yard of the Tonks' residence and a knock was heard at the back door. Andromeda had schooled into both Ted and Nymphadora, who was already protesting her name at the young age, how they were to act around the Lord Black, not only one of the more influential members of the Wizengamot, but also an Order of Merlin, First Class holder. All three were dressed in fine wizarding robes and Andromeda went to answer the door to reveal the seventy-something wizard who held himself well being strong of magic and body. Ted was holding young Leo as the Lord Black answered. Ted bowed while Andromeda and Nymphadora both curtsied.
"Welcome Lord Black, to our most humble home" Andromeda started, keeping her gaze lowered.
"Thank you, young Andromeda. Please, rise. Show me the child" Arcturus replied, stepping past Andromeda towards Ted. The Lord Black had never been one to waste time with small talk
Ted nodded and held Leo out before his cousin, three times removed, who made no reaction as he held up his hand to the toddler. As young are wont to do, Leo reached out and clutched onto the old man's finger, staring curiously at the ring sitting upon it which displayed a snake curled around a green shield. This was a special ring given to Slytherin students who had become Head Boy or Girl, one which Arcturus had not worn for many years, but seemed a much better test than some stuffed toy. As Leo stared down at the snake, his quiet babbling turned into quiet hissing causing the snake to look directly out at him and bow its head slightly, hissing back in response. Arcturus' eyes widened ever so slightly and he tugged his hand free of the infant's grasp who returned to his more natural babbling.
"Then Alphard was not going mad… this is very intriguing. It appears that the two of you truly are blessed by Magic herself." The man then lifted his right hand up and another ring appeared, this one much larger and containing the crest of House Black along with its motto "Toujours Pur... Always pure," the Lord Black murmured, taking a long breath.
"When our family was first founded and the phrase chosen, it did not actually refer to the purity of one's blood. Instead, it referred to the purity of magic. Blacks would only marry with those of magic, but it didn't matter how long the family had had it. It was first created in a time when witch hunts were rampant and muggles seen as savages. Perhaps I have let myself fallen too far from our family's original practices due to the powerful figures our family has chosen to follow in the past few decades. However, both Nymphadora and Leo's remarkable gifts seem to indicate that purity of blood doesn't have as much to do with the gift of magic as most of my contemporaries would seem to think.
Young Andromeda, along the guidelines of our ancestors' practices, I welcome you back to the family. You will once more be Andromeda Black as our name supersedes Tonks. Nymhadora and Leo will also take the surname and your husband will have the choice of name"
Andromeda smiled letting out a breath she wasn't aware she had been holding during her
Lord's history lesson. She frankly hadn't expected this much, not only would Leo be a black but she and Nymphadora would be as well. In addition, her marriage with Ted would be accepted.
"However," Lord Black continued, "with the Dark Lord currently running around claiming his own Parseltongue ability makes him the heir of Slytherin, I think we shall keep young Leo's ability to ourselves." He lets out a sigh as he looks again to Leo. "With the way that this war seems to be going, there is a chance that your son may actually be next in line to become Lord Black. At the moment he is seventh in line, sixth if Walburga finally gets her way and strikes young Sirius from the family. You would be permitted to retain your home here but I would recommend moving to one of our more warded properties. One can only imagine how some members of our family might react to a muggleborn being given the name Black."
Andromeda flinched slightly and chanced a glance to her husband who only raised an eyebrow. She had potentially anticipated this as part of the protection her family would have to undergo.
"I think I would like to take an active part in young Leo's life, teaching him how to truly be a strong Lord Black as I attempted to teach my own son. How it means that he will bow to no one, even if they are a self-proclaimed Dark Lord. I will make the arrangements, Andromeda, to have the three of you welcomed back at Gringotts and to accept your marriage. Expect Bobbity to pop by with news of when I'd like to begin teaching my great grandson. I'd send Bibbity or Boo but your older sister took the two of them into her marriage."
Andromeda curtsied once more and gestured to Ted to do the same who bowed, Nymphadora also curtsying. She knew that Arcuturus would do what he could to preserve the safety of the black family. With Sirius planning to head to the auror academy, while the other four possible heirs put their support either financially or physically behind the Dark Lord, and Alphard taking an officially neutral stance, it made sense that he would do his best to keep the youngest heir in the best protected position he could. "Thank you, Lord Black, I relish being able to be a daughter of Black once more."
"As you should. And don't think I didn't pick up on you thumbing your nose at our family's tradition with names, girl. Leo Alphard, the lion with a snake's heart. If that boy ends up as the second Gryffindor Black in generations I will make sure he is trained to be a proper Slytherin regardless" The old man cracked a small smile and with that he headed back outside to apparate away. Sirius wasn't the only one with a sense of humor within the house of Black.
Andromeda practically collapsed onto the sofa as she let out a relieved gasp "Thank Merlin… that could've gone so much worse…" Ted slowly sat beside her and let Leo crawl over into his mother's lap who leaned down to kiss his forehead. Dora was happy that her parents were happy and made her way up into her father's lap who smiled and wrapped one arm around his wife and the other around his daughter. Leo summed up the events of the day quite easily with his newest word "Black!"
Later that same week, Arcturus met with the goblin in charge of the Black family, Arlus, who had been keeping the books since his father Sirius Black II, for whom Andromeda's cousin was named, had been Lord Black. The old goblin was frankly surprised, it was not often that Arcturus Black second guessed himself. However he understood the loud shrieking of Walburga Black and wanting to stop it. It took a bit of time to restore the family ties, reopen Andromeda's trust vault, ending up just tying it into her existing one, as well as creating trust vaults for both Nymphadora and Leo. Arcturus instructed that no notification would need to be sent out to anyone other than Orion as his current heir, which of course would most likely result in Walburga finding out. With the business taken care of he also went ahead and set aside the funds necessary for both children's Hogwarts fees for seven years but with the option to transfer it to Durmstrang as some Black's had opted to do in the past especially while his grandfather Phineas Nigellus had been headmaster here. With the traditional goblin goodbye, that any self respecting member of magical society should know, Arcturus exited the bank and returned to the Black Manor.
His wife, Melania Black nee MacMillan had passed a few years ago leaving him alone in the ancient manor other than the elves and the occasional guest or family member that stayed. He was surprised to find Alphard awaiting him, not that he showed it.
"So then, my favorite daughter of Black has been restored as has my namesake and his sister?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow.
Arcturus sighed as he lowered himself into his favorite armchair "Yes, yes, I admit that breeding outside of the usual Pureblood gene pool has had quite spectacular results."
"I realized you'd probably need to notify Orion of the updates which means that my dear sister will soon be paying you a visit. I wish you the best of luck with that, uncle"
The older gentleman fixed his cousin's son with a glare, gray eyes meeting grey. "I hope you realize I will turn her onto you when she asks who set all this into motion"
He shoots back a grin before sighing "Yes, yes, I'm sure. Best be going to check my wards, you know how she can be" He smirked before heading for the fireplace leaving Arcturus unknowingly in a calm before the storm that would come soon.
It was a heavy hit to Sirius Black III and the whole Tonks family when Alphard passed away later that year. While the mediwitches seemed to think it was natural causes, none of them could be sure that Walburga hadn't done something to her brother for going behind her back with regards to the Tonkses-turned-Blacks.
It was at his will reading in Gringotts that Leo and Nymphadora had their first interaction with a large chunk of the rest of their family. Lord Arcturus Black was in attendance as were his cousin Pollux, Alphard's father, Cygnus, Alphard's younger brother, and Walburga, his older sister. Orion was also there as were Sirius, Regulus, Narcissa, and Bellatrix.
Arcturus sat at the head of the table with Pollux on his right and Orion on his left. Cygnus sat beside his father, ignoring his middle child who sat beside him, Leo held in her lap, Nymphadora beside her, and Sirius on Nymphadora's other side. Beside Orion was Walburga, Regulus, Bellatrix, and Narcissa, the first two sending glares to the trio of renamed Blacks and the runaway son.
Arlus ignored the tension that filled the room as he opened the will and began to read.
"I, Alphard Phineas Black, being of sound mind and body declare this to be my last will and testament as of September 17, 1977, rendering all previous wills null and void.
Should this be the version of my will you are hearing, then I'm going to go out on a limb and say that my suggestion to Lord Black didn't go over so well with my dear old sister. I don't care how natural it looked, I know you had something to do with it, Wally. As such, to you I leave a pair of knuts for you to" at this Arlus coughed and let out a sigh "to suck on." At this Walburga's ire was focussed on the goblin and Sirius was clearly struggling to contain his laughter. While Andromeda was less obvious, it was quite clear she shared her younger cousin's sentiment while Nymphadora just looked confused.
"To both my father and my little brother I leave 1,000 Galleons. Not that you need it of course, just a sign of good will.
To my nieces three, I leave 5,000 Galleons on the condition that neither they, nor their spouses or fiances or whatever that poncy blond is at this point have gotten a certain tattoo on their left forearms. If such is the case, they get five sickels, no more, no less.
To my nephew Sirius Black, I leave 20,000 Galleons as well as my home in Chichester, England. No son of Black, no matter how out of sorts he may be with the rest of the family, should have to rely on another family for living. I also offer 500 Galleons to Sirius to be delivered to Fleamont to pay the Potters back for putting up with him.
To Regulus, I offer you 10,000 Galleons. Thank you for trusting me and I wish you the best in your endeavors. Do the House of Black proud, boy.
To the lovely Miss Nymphadora and my namesake, I leave 10,000 Galleons each in a trust that Andromeda controls which will be theirs regardless of whether or not they are still a part of the main family by the time they can access them.
The rest of my assets I send back to the main Black Family Vault to be used as the Lord Black, whoever he may be, sees fit."
As the aged goblin finished off the reading, the expressions on the faces around the room varied. Arcturus, Pollux, Cygnus, and Orion had maintained their neutral expressions, though Cygnus' eye had twitched a tad at his elder brother's bequeathment. Andromeda also maintained a calm expression but had a small smile on her lips. Sirius was wide-eyed and a tad embarrassed at the amount he had gotten. Regulus seemed a bit put off by his uncle's message but no one seemed to be focussing on him. Meanwhile Walburga and Bellatrix had furious expressions while Narcissa only had a small frown on her face. She had always liked her uncle but knew that he had never approved of her chosen suitor, not that she had much choice in the matter.
With the reading done, Andromeda moved quickly and stood, holding Leo in her right arm and grabbing Nymphadora's hand with her left heading for the exit but freezing as Walburga's cold voice rang out.
"So, you think yourself too good to interact with the rest of the family other than to go running crying to your Great Uncle and whine about getting kicked out. Just what sort of favors did you offer to see yourself reestablished, mudwhore?"
Nymphadora winced slightly as she felt her mother's hand tighten around hers and Sirius stared in shock at his mother's words. Without turning around, Andromeda responded with an equally icy tone "Bold of you to make such implications when I am not the one who was able to keep my maiden name."
She quickly led her children from the room not wanting to stick around for any longer than she had too. She hadn't told her older sister where her house was located, but she knew that Narcissa would likely crack if Walburga put her under any real pressure. As the three of them headed for the Portkey point at the entrance of the bank, she realized it would probably be the safest to relocate to a home where they could actually set up wards as Lord Black had recommended. Ted wouldn't be happy, but they would be safe.
After exchanging mail with both Sirius and Lord Black, Andromeda had managed to nail down a Black property that was nicely warded and could even be modified to keep out certain unsavory family members. It had actually been Dorea Potter née Black's dowry, but Lord Charlus Potter had returned it to Arcturus as a present for his receiving the Order of Merlin, First Class since the pair were staying at a larger Potter property and his nephew Fleamont was staying in Potter Manor with his wife and son despite Charlus having accepted the title of Lord from his brother Henry after he stepped down from the Wizengamot, being snubbed by being left out of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. The outlash against Dorea had been such that she and Charlus had worked out how to block fellow Blacks from being able to just apparate in. It seemed to fit the bill perfectly for the Tonks-Blacks' needs. It was located in Cornwall, just a county west of several other Pureblood family homes in Devon.
As she had predicted, Ted was wary about having to ship out and had asked for a week to get his affairs together and to officially quit his Muggle job. With Andromeda's inheritance and their children's trust funds, they didn't have much of a need to work anyway. Sirius had also offered Alphard's home that he had since taken up residence in if they needed an interim house.
The first few days of the week, Andromeda worked hard to get everything packed up. However, on the fourth night after the will reading, Andromeda was awoken in the middle of the night when the simple alert line she had set up around the house was tripped. She quickly shook Ted awake and held a finger to her lips, whispering the warning to him and bolting out to collect Leo while he went for Dora.
Arcturus hadn't sent them the Portkey to their new property, but thankfully Sirius had included one to his place in his letter. Andromeda ran downstairs and quickly summoned a few of their more important picture frames right as she heard the door burst open and quickly ran back upstairs.
"Oh sister dear…" a familiar voice cooed out through the dark house as Bellatrix Lestrange entered, clothed in a dark robe but wearing no mask. Andromeda made it back upstairs and found the rest of her family gathered together. "Come out and play!"
Nymphadora was still wiping sleep from her eyes and Ted had gathered together the suitcases they had prepped with enough clothes to see them through for a bit. Andromeda grabbed the small lion pendant Sirius had sent them and held it out to the others, Ted clutching Leo close to him.
"Snake Den" Andromeda murmured and the portkey whisked them away, the crazed scream of her sister echoing in her ears as she saw her turn up the stairwell.
After a couple nights at Sirius' home, the family finally moved onto their new home. Ted had gone to a local pub and had seen news reports of a crazy fire burning down their home with the family of four being nowhere to be found and unfortunately presumed dead. Even though the muggles couldn't see it, Ted had watched the Dark Mark floating menacingly over the remains of their home and had reported such to Andromeda when returning to their new residence.
Nymphadora, or just Dora as she had started to insist being called after receiving a fair amount of teasing from Sirius, had managed to grab her teddy bear and Leo's snake had been collected before their departure so they had at least not lost everything. Only being five, Dora didn't seem too put out at the sudden change in scenery but she could tell her parents were more tense than usual, so she had done her best to keep her little brother happy and out of the way, not wanting to grate on their nerves any more than was possible.
One evening she had walked downstairs to get herself a glass of water and overheard her parents getting into a heated discussion.
"Honestly, Andy, it's like I don't matter anymore! Our entire lives are just the Black family's to toy with now! Your last name, our kids' last names, hell my last name! Thanks to your sister our home's destroyed so there's nothing left of the Tonkses! It's just a Pureblood family wiping out another mudblood! I thought you wanted to leave that all behind to marry me yet here you are sliding right back into it and seemingly happy!"
Andromeda flinched away from her husband but couldn't deny that he had points "Ted, please, I'm sorry. You know I won't force you to change your name as well. And if it makes you feel any better I will always consider myself a Tonks even if I have to change my name. But you have to see that this makes us safer. With Nymphadora and Leo's gifts we'd be targeted by You-Know-Who. We have been! If Narcissa told them where we were living there's no telling if she's also revealed Leo's talent!"
Suddenly a small ball with droopy brown hair crashed into Ted's stomach clutching him tightly and loud sniffles could be heard "D-daddy I'm so sorry Leo and I made you stop being you! I-i promise, I'll always be a Tonks kay? I'ma Tonks"
Both adults were surprised at their daughter's sudden intrusion and the anger drained from their bodies, Andromeda hesitating for a moment before joining the other two in a hug at Ted's beckoning. Ted crouched down and gently wiped away Dora's tears smiling "Hey sweetie, please don't cry. Daddy's not losing himself, and it's most certainly not your and Leo's fault. I'm so proud that you always want to be mine, but Mommy's family name is really important"
"But Black is boring and Tonks is really special and unique! Like me!" Both adults chuckled at this logic.
Andromeda gently rubbed her daughter's back "Well sweetie, you'll always be a Tonks in my book. You can just be both! Nymphadora Tonks Black. We never did come up with a middle name for you anyway"
The five-year-old pondered this for a moment before nodding, tears gone and a smile growing on her face again before it was split open by a yawn. Once again the kitchen was filled with laughter as Ted hoisted her up into his arms and helped her get a glass of water before taking her back upstairs. Things weren't exactly resolved, but the couple decided then and there that whatever may come their way, they would handle as a family. As the Tonkses and as the Blacks.
After one of the longest years of Andromeda and Ted's lives, it was once again a time for celebration as Leo turned two. Death Eater attacks were reported on the wireless with more frequency but things still weren't completely bleak. The graduation ceremony of Sirius Black and the rest of his year including James and his girlfriend, Lily Evans, was a tense affair, no one being sure if the terrorists would make an attack. Thankfully there was no attack though there was a shouting match between the son of Black and one Severus Snape, both having had a bit too much Firewhiskey before James managed to drag him off and Lily's glare silenced the Slytherin. Andromeda and the newly minted 'Tonks' had attended for her cousin's sake, thankful that they were the only members of the family who had decided to attend.
A month after this ceremony, Sirius returned the favor by attending Leo's birthday party once again, along with James and Lily who was now wearing the Fleamont family betrothal ring that had been passed down from James' great grandmother. Arcturus had also decided to attend his potential heir's party, giving the boy some formal toddler wear. Sirius, not to be outdone by his cousin from the year before, had decided to get Leo an animated stuffed lion, who got on surprisingly well with the stuffed serpent Narcissa had gotten him the year before. Narcissa had not been invited to attend now that her marriage to Lucius Malfoy was planned for September later that year.
It was much to the family's shock when the toddler started having a conversation with his new and old toy, swapping between english, parseltongue, and what sounded suspiciously like he was conversing with the lion in its own language.
So yeah, there you go, I hope you like it! Any reviews would be appreciated. I haven't actually gotten anything past this written yet but I think actually putting this out there will help get me in gear. When you hear what Leo's abilities actually are well... yeah they're dumb... and so is the explanation. But hey, at least I have one in mind! Of course, neither of those will have anything on the name I gave it. Granted, I'll have Xenophilius actually coin it, so blame it on him. I hope to continue this soon and thanks again for giving my first ever (published (ish anyway)) story a read!